how do you feel about this?

BDx13 - 10-1-2007 at 01:04 PM

Radiohead to release "suggested donation" album
http://www.punknews.org/article/25818

In a stunning move, Radiohead has not only announced that they will be self-releasing their new album, but have also allowed fans to set the price they're willing to pay for the digital download. The record is titled In Rainbows and is due out October 10, 2007 exclusively through the band's website.

While donation-suggested albums are more common outside of the mainstream - ska label Quote Unquote for example - this the first time a band of Radiohead's stature has opted to take this route.

For those craving a physical release, the band has also assembled a "discbox" which will include the album, a double vinyl copy, and a bonus CD with more music; plus, those who opt for the physical release will still get the digital version of the album when it is released.

joemaconmovies - 10-1-2007 at 01:08 PM

good for them

MyOwnWay - 10-1-2007 at 01:51 PM

I dont care for the idea.

XHonusWagnerX - 10-1-2007 at 01:55 PM

Its kind of weird... but I support it.

JawnDiablo - 10-1-2007 at 01:58 PM

One Line Drawing did this kinda thing I think...

clevohardcore - 10-1-2007 at 02:01 PM

RADIOHEAD = one of the greats. I love that band. I have every single release. They continue to re-invent themselves every single time.

this idea is awsome as well. Not sure I fully understand it, but it sounds good..

BDx13 - 10-1-2007 at 03:38 PM

gimme a little more.
joe, michael, others... what do you see as the pros and cons. what do you not like?

Siczine.com - 10-1-2007 at 03:53 PM

I just don't like the idea of downloading albums to begin with but this is something that just seems destined to fail.

MyOwnWay - 10-1-2007 at 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BD
gimme a little more.
joe, michael, others... what do you see as the pros and cons. what do you not like?

I see no good that can come from this. I dont feel the solution to people downloading records is letting them set their own price. If this becomes anywhere close to the norm, I dont understand how labels or bands could possibley make their money. And I see this as a way of advocating downloading, which is a problem. You can say "but they're charging", but that doesnt help the matter when someone says why the fuck should I spend a penny per track by downloading it off their site, I should download it for free over here.

I think there needs to be a major shift back in the way of properly obtaining music. I applaud their creativity but I see this as a problem not a solution.

clevohardcore - 10-1-2007 at 05:04 PM

I think what is going on here is that cd's at most stores are in uppwards of $18 so people steal DL it from free sites in semi- rebellion. Also I feel people are getting more poor and that is causing some to not spend. Record companies are stealing rfrom bands and that in essence is pissing them off. Also RADIOHEAD may have past its popularity time int he sun and this is a way to attract more attention.

MyOwnWay - 10-1-2007 at 05:09 PM

Clevo, I agree with you on all aspects. It is a great promotional tool for radiohead. The (at least part of) answer is big labels dropping their prices to moderate levels. They've built themselves to be such juggernauts, now they cant get out of it. And I do believe as well for the reasons you made specific of why people download. But education to happen that bands suffer from this. It would be the same way if a band got paid from shows, and 65% of the audience found a way to sneak in.

CR83 - 10-1-2007 at 05:25 PM

I love the ease of DL'ing and paying for it. I am less attached to it though. It's like a casino chip. I know it is worth $5 but it just isn't $5.

Decide your price? That is way too risky of a deal for bands and labels.

gavin - 10-1-2007 at 05:33 PM

here's my opinion...............

i used to spend tons and tons of money on music
i used to spend l;ots of money taking a chance on a newewr or an older band i may never have heard just because they seemed cool or like something i might be into
i bought tons of punk rock that way
tons of blues that way
tons of country that way
and tons of reggae that way

as all of you know, these types of music have TONS of bands and performers
and quite a bit of them suck
you find a gem here and there but you havta weed through alot of shit

now............

how the fuck is one supposed to do this sort of thing paying $20 a cd?
the answer is they cant

thats why the "record business" is failing

you want to charge me $20 for a cd?
fuck you
ill download it for free

hate to tell you all but its the same thing as copying tapes for people back in the day except on a much larger scale and with modern technology involved

if the new metallica comes out you can bet your ass im downloading it
fuck lars
like even if he did see any of the actual money from the record sales, like he needs anymore of some 12 year olds allowence
fuck you lars
fuck you
fuck you
and fuck you

remember how you got big lars ya fucking cunt
by kids trading your crappy fucking pussy ass faggot tapes

the end

ps..........i wouldnt even download metallica for free
lars would havta come to my house with a pizza and ask me really nice to give it a chance
even then i'd probably throw midget ass out and keep his pizza

queer

JawnDiablo - 10-1-2007 at 05:49 PM

Yeah dude.
I spent thousands over the years buying music.
I bought plenty of crap on impulse because it looked "good"
problem is these days, with a majority of stuff i've actually purchased is that it is 85% filler with maybe 2 memorable tracks.
if bands start making better records than maybe people will buy the cd.
on a lighter note, yeah i have hardly the amount of spare fuck away cash that i used to when i bought tons of music.
I don't feel guilty of "stealing"
crap half the shitty bands we talk about on here I heard of by copying friends tapes on a double cassette deck..
hey Geoff, I copied your Sheer Terror tape 16 years ago.....

gavin - 10-1-2007 at 07:14 PM

fuck man
im calling the cops on you for copying it, my sister for having my copy, the band for making it in the first place, and on myself cuz im sure my copy was a copy from someone else

Murk - 10-1-2007 at 07:16 PM

Quote:

Yeah dude.
I spent THOUSANDS over the years buying music.

as far as Radiohead's idea, as long as it is the band's choice...

gavin - 10-1-2007 at 07:22 PM

here's something i just thought about
you older heads will recall this

back in the day, before metallica was huge, but were still big, they had a hard on for the misfits
a huge hard on
like every god damn picture of lars and james they were sure to wear their misfits shirts to show how cool and "punk" they were.

anyway, if you also recall, besides walk amoung us, which was on caroline and distributed by warner brothers, misfits stuff was REALLY hard to get.
like at the time NO reissues of the stuff was out yet
not even the caroline hits comp was out yet.

so
im thinking, how do ya think lars got a hold of some misfits stuff?

ill tell ya, he had someone who was alot coller and hip to stuff COPY their stuff for them so their shitbag wangtard band could cover some of the songs and metalhead retards the world over wouyld actually think that metallica wrote a song as cool as last carress and green hell

NIGGGGAZ PLEAZZZZZZZ

again, fuck you lars
fuuuuuuuuuuuck you

Six66Mike - 10-1-2007 at 07:26 PM

I don't care at all about this band but I like the idea. They are so incredibly huge that even if this is a complete failure they can still recover without missing a beat.

They know what people want (mp3) and know people are going to download the album like crazy, thousands have hit their albums on Oink alone. They are letting fans decide how they want the music & the best part is its DIY and fuck the label, something we should be down with here. They've done this album themselves.

I think the set your own price thing cuts both ways. You got legit fans who love you and will pay money for it, but there's always people who want a free ride. As far as I know there is no minimum price but there may be. Atleast the band is going to get something from it, and its better than nothing if they just let leechers go rampant.

Plus you've still got the fans who want the physical and it sounds like they've got a great package for anyone who goes to the store still to buy music.

They've covered both physical and digital, total DIY and let the fans pick, this is fucking cool.

JawnDiablo - 10-1-2007 at 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBadVibes
fuck man
im calling the cops on you for copying it, my sister for having my copy, the band for making it in the first place, and on myself cuz im sure my copy was a copy from someone else

and call the SWAT team cause i think that bastard Moody snuck it outa my car...

JawnDiablo - 10-1-2007 at 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBadVibes
here's something i just thought about
you older heads will recall this

back in the day, before metallica was huge, but were still big, they had a hard on for the misfits
a huge hard on
like every god damn picture of lars and james they were sure to wear their misfits shirts to show how cool and "punk" they were.

anyway, if you also recall, besides walk amoung us, which was on caroline and distributed by warner brothers, misfits stuff was REALLY hard to get.
like at the time NO reissues of the stuff was out yet
not even the caroline hits comp was out yet.

so
im thinking, how do ya think lars got a hold of some misfits stuff?

ill tell ya, he had someone who was alot coller and hip to stuff COPY their stuff for them so their shitbag wangtard band could cover some of the songs and metalhead retards the world over wouyld actually think that metallica wrote a song as cool as last carress and green hell

NIGGGGAZ PLEAZZZZZZZ

again, fuck you lars
fuuuuuuuuuuuck you

yeah dude
thats what made me check out misfits and samhain and that danzig guy when his sol band popped up.
i think it was actually cliff who pushed the punk on the rest of em.
lars just thunked the shirt looked good with his hair...

random - 10-1-2007 at 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBadVibes
im thinking, how do ya think lars got a hold of some misfits stuff?

You don't even have to go that far. There's footage of them back before they were famous telling people to copy their shit and pass it along to friends... it's how they built a following, when no label was willing to take a chance on them.

Onto the Radiohead thing...

I think it's an interesting idea, and I agree that they've covered both ends of the spectrum by also having a physical product along with the "you set the price" download. And I think it's true that many people will pay for the download and the physical product.

As for the music business (and lots of random comments)...

To begin with, most of the shit I buy (when I actually buy music) is used stuff off of eBay, so nobody is seeing any money off most of my purchases. I've bought a few albums off iTunes just because I didn't want to wait a few days for it to arrive through the mail.

One of the big problems with albums these days, as mentioned, is the price. You're just not going to take a chance on an $18-20 CD as often because you can't afford to. Being the brilliant student of economics that I am, I understand that record labels are setting prices above what many individuals will pay... the "equilibrium price" is somewhere between free (download) and $18 (the sale price). But people just don't think it's worth paying such a high price for the albums.

Another thing... most albums suck. That's why Tony Brummell (or however the fuck you spell his name) realized that iTunes was going to kill the music industry... because now people only have to pay $.99 for each of the three decent songs on a 16-track album. You no longer have to pay an extra $12 to get the rest of the garbage that fills up most albums.

In the middle of the spectrum between Radiohead and big labels, consider Mark Lind's solo EP. It's six tracks, along with a decent-quality (not great) live set. And it's $6. I bought two copies. Why? Because (i) it's cheap, so why not, (ii) I was pretty damn certain it was going to be good, and I could pass the extra copy along to someone else who's not familiar with Mark's other stuff, and (iii) I knew the money was going to the artist. I realize that labels need to cover the day-to-day expenses, but Thorp's only charging $10 a CD now... you're an asshole if you steal it when it's only $10. (Maybe download to try it out first - since you otherwise wouldn't buy it anyway - but buy the damn thing if you think it's good.)

As a stupid-but-related comment, I remember reading about some coffee shop in Seattle (I think) that did the "pay what you think it's worth" thing. Not sure how successful it is, but that seems like an even bigger risk than putting out an album in the same way.

Six66Mike - 10-1-2007 at 08:58 PM

Record labels killed themselves. focus on the single, make a video, play it over & over on tv shows etc. Nobody likes the rest of the album because it sucks.

Bands rarely write albums anymore, they write a series of calculated crap and pick one to be their single and go with it. Labels pick out their choice & we're left with a shit product not worth $10 let alone $20.

If labels decided to focus on the album and sign artists who make albums, not songs, then it'd be worth the cash.

Mp3's got so popular because you could download those good tracks & avoid the rest without paying out the ass.

Discipline - 10-1-2007 at 09:26 PM

I' just wrote out a big long response and then my computer fucked up and it disappeared. I'll leave it at this, I'm against downloading music, whether it's paid for or stolen. Music is losing what used to make it special.

Six66Mike - 10-1-2007 at 10:05 PM

with the way music is these days I'm a big fan of try it before you buy it, and if I dig something I buy it. I can't afford to buy 10-20 CD's a week any more like I did in high school.

joemaconmovies - 10-1-2007 at 11:17 PM

i bought the discbox of this. cost me some $$ but i love this band.

random - 10-1-2007 at 11:51 PM

This thread made me go pay to download Pressure Point "Youth on the Streets" from iTunes. I need to get the new album, too.

MikeCore - 10-2-2007 at 12:20 AM

Great Idea. Fully supported. I'm doing the same thing with my stuff when I put it out next year. This has always been the plan from the start. It's gonna cost me nothing to record/produce the demo so why should I charge for it. No body would buy it any way. HC is a means of personal release for me and that's as far as it goes.

Any band can easily produce their own pro quality stuff at home for next to nothing these days and I wish more would but, I guess when you get to be as big as Radiohead you get used to a certain way of doing things and since they do this for a living I am guessing they need to maintain a certain amount of income to sustain their lifestyles but I am also guessing they wouldn't of done this without thoroughly weighing the risks and rewards .

Now if they would just put out good music again

random - 10-2-2007 at 12:29 AM

I like that the new Bruisers myspace page lets you download songs for $.79. Super cheap, and I know the money goes to the guys who made the music, instead of the various labels that have ripped them off over the years.

MyOwnWay - 10-2-2007 at 08:18 AM

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/398298/getting_paid...

Read that.